


those that lurk below

by yunbun



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, I got bored, Pining, also im getting a switch soon hopefully so im gonna play so much splatoon you dont even know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28894539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunbun/pseuds/yunbun
Summary: When you're simply trying to save Inkopolis, you wouldn't expect to wind up with three Octarians who end up saving you from certain doom
Relationships: Inkling(s)/Octoling(s) (Splatoon)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	1. Well Fuck, This Is Where I Die

**Author's Note:**

> hi !!
> 
> i'm sorry this isn't falsettos,, i'm just really really excited to get my hands on a switch (again, hopefully) in february, and i'm buying this game as soon as i can >:0
> 
> i'll try and add more chapters if people like it,, defiantely expecting people not to-
> 
> tw up ahead for mentions of blood and bandages, nausea slightly mentioned

She couldn’t do this. Fuck.

The stage was  _ blinding _ . What used to be calm, plain concrete floors were now encompassed with rays of pink or green, watching as it’s substance hypnotizingly churned in pattern before settling, almost taking her out with it. Her face was sodden with what could’ve only been the enemy’s weaponry as she dashed behind a wall, regaining her stamina and her breath. She could  _ hear _ their laughter, echoing and bouncing off each surface as their poisoned minds led them astray. It caused nausea to swim in her stomach, and she had to shake herself out of it because she  _ has _ to save Inkopolis for the better. And she’d better do it  _ now _ , whilst the Zapfish is, you know,  _ alive _ . She’d snatched a quick break to regroup herself, reloading her dualies, although  _ wishing _ she’d taken the sniper. But she didn’t have long.

Suddenly, a spark shot within her, and she lept up in the air, firing with all her might. She’d taken out at least 6 of the 10 Octolings waiting behind her already, so she only had four more. Two of them had been on the bad end of her attack, getting killed almost  _ immediately _ . But she had no time to think about that - She could only keep going. Hurriedly taking out another one (with some expert dodging, if I do say so myself), she had stopped dead in front of the last one, assessing its features. How it’s mask was hung tightly on its face, almost sucking the life out of its expression, how her hair was tinted pink at the bottom, and-

In a flash, her dualies were abandoned beside her as she felt her head give a sharp  _ crack _ against the concrete. Black started to invade her vision. She was out of time. It was too late.

So, she did the best thing she could’ve done, since she had no weaponry, and barely any consciousness to spare. She tried to run. Her feeble attempt was sunk even lower as she realised the ink below her wasn’t pink, it was  _ green _ , and oh  _ god _ , this is where she  _ dies _ . But that didn’t stop her from trying. Crackled cries of distress came from deep within her headset, which was  _ definitely _ broken by now, far beyond repair. She could feel her strength seeping out of her, through her blood, the sleek trail of azure leaking into the enemy’s ink, but by  _ God  _ did she try. The Octoling above her was  _ chuckling  _ at the sight, like a sick monster would it’s prey. Her head fell back weakly against the ground, and at this point, she didn’t care if ink was creeping into her skull, intoxicating her brain, because she’d  _ failed _ . She’d failed Inkopolis, she’d failed Callie and Marie, Pearl and Marina.

And with that thought, she grunted weakly, and let the darkness consume her.

;-;

_ “Shut up, she’s probably waking up now!” _

_ “Oh god, oh god, oh fuck, why did we do this,” _

_ “We?! It was just Cassie, might I add-” _

She’d pushed herself up, but despite her best efforts, fallen back down again onto a soft pillow, eyes still shut.

Wait. A  _ pillow _ ?

Letting the light take over, she’d opened her eyes o be met with the neon strips on the walls, and  _ three fucking Octolings  _ staring her down, “Hey!” One of them chirped, a smile gracing their features, “We  _ totally  _ saved you once Cassie here called us to help,”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up,” The- Well, Cassie, as she’d found out - rolled her eyes, before adopting a regretful expression, “I am  _ so sorry _ , I really didn’t want to kill you, but it just, well, you were just, and- and I-”

“I get it,” Her voice was scratchy, hoarse, from being asleep for  _ god _ knows how long, “I didn't wanna either,”

“Well, what’s your name then, freshie?”

“I-It’s, uh, Sammie, I… Am I underground?”

They helped her sit up, “Yep! The Octo Grounds themselves, full of green ink and neon lights!”

_ Fuck _ , Sammie thought to herself, rubbing her head wearily, noticing one of her eyes was covered. This is where they were? “Wait, wait I need to get  _ out of here, _ I need to tell Cap’n, I-”

_ “No no! _ Let’s, haha, let’s maybe  _ not _ do that, huh, freshie? Maybe we should just, you know, be careful and  _ not _ let people know you’re here,”

“But they’ll find you anyway! Inkopolis has the  _ best _ pastoral team!” She yelped, struggling weakly against the three of them.

“Let’s get to know each other, you’re gonna be down here for a while, get used to it!” Her tone was light and carefree as she stuck a hand out, “I’m Phoenix Azura, but people call me Phoebe or just Fee!” Sammie shook her hand cautiously.

“I’m Dara Hustina, but Dot’ll do!” The second one smiled.

“And you know I’m Cassie, the reason you’re down here,” She sighed, “Look, your wound is gonna take a while to clean, Sammie, so I think, unfortunately, we’re gonna have to train you for now to look like us. And, not to brag, but I think we can do somethin’ with those… Inkling tentacles of yours,” At this, she prodded her hair, which was completely drained of colour, “You know how to change their colour? And the rod between that nose?”

“I’m not  _ five _ , you just have to give me a weapon, I can do it,” She seemed surprised at the second element, “My nose?”

Fee pointed to the bridge of her nose, “Look! We don’t have any weird-conjoining bridge thing! See?”

“Some foundation will do the job,” Carrie smiled nervously, “Ready for a makeover?”

;-;

“Aaand,” Cassie gave her hair a last, sharp tug, “Tada! Good as… Well, good as you’re gonna fuckin’ get down here,”

Sammie could barely recognize herself. She had Octoling tentacles, her eye was a sharp green instead of pink, the bridge of her nose was plain and  _ she had Octoling tentacles _ , “This… This will help my squid form?”

“Yep! Now we’ve changed your hair, but maybe we should check it in secret just before you go,”

When they stepped out, Sammie realised that the houses were shaped like china vases, teetering on an angle yet very against falling over. The place was rather dark, but her eyes were able to adapt. It could’ve been night, since she didn’t know what time it was, “Uh, could I have the time?”

“Oh sure! 66-past-sundown,” Dara chirped.

What.

“What,” Sammie said, pretty sure her face was that of the most bewildered anyone had ever seen.

“Oh, is your time different? We can give you a translation-watch?”

She tapped the screen of the watch, observing as it’s digits went from  _ 66-past-sundown _ to  _ 00;06 _ .

“Oh, sundown, like, uh, you count each minute from The hour of sundown until it rises? Well, when’s that?”

“Usually, in these months, um, 240-past?”

“So that would be four o’clock in my time,” Sammie sighed, smiling wearily when Phoenix sent her a worried glance.

“I know it’s a lot to get used to, but you can-”

“Watch it!” Suddenly, Cassie was slamming them full-force into an alleyway, leaving Sammie to slam  _ head fucking first _ against a wall, hissing in pain. She was about to give Cassie a piece of her mind when she saw it. An eerie, ghostly red strobe light was scanning the floor, leaving nothing but the silhouette ingrained into Sammie’s eyes in its place,  _ “Fucking _ Octotrooper patrol, always after sundown,”

That statement sent a flurry of goosebumps over Sammie’s body, remembering the amount of times she’d been on the tail-end of their attacks, inkjets and guns alike, “Wait, they fucking  _ patrol?” _ She whispered harshly, waiting for it to pass.

“Yep. Nearly every night. Looking for…  _ Shit _ people like you- Cassie, we can’t do this,”

“Yes, we can, I know a place,” She smiled at them, “Trust me,”

When they arrived, it looked quite like the training grounds each kid was hurried onto as soon as they could walk. Except with vulgar art of the Inkling species pressed onto each wall, making Sammie wince.

Noticing this, Fee piped, “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s harsh training, from day one,” She chuckled, “But I bet you have just as much, right?”

“Actually, no. No we don’t,” She murmured as she paced over to the wall, reading each comment of  _ “They’ve taken our lands. Take it back,”  _ And,  _ “Watch your back, prepare for attack,” _ But, the best one? A picture of Marina, with the words,  _ “TRAITOR,”  _ Scrawled across in black ink. 

A voice came from behind, “Okay!” And with that, the floodlights shut off.

Fuck. This is where they kill her. She’s dead. No hope. Nuh-Uh. Nothing.

Then, a spotlight shone on only her, and when she spotted the colour of the ink, let her hair ombre delicately into a vibrant green, squinting past the light to see two figures jump down from above, “Sammie,” She noticed it was Cassie’s voice, “You are wanted for plenty of crimes here. Escape these Octotroopers, and we will let you go,”

A siren suddenly sounded, and Sammie, out of reflex, reached for her guns that we’re definitely behind her back. Until they weren’t. Well, fuck! This is it then! She’s gonna become food for these guys for the next month, and the only thing that will be left of her is her boots which cost God knows how much, and-

Before she knew it, she was turning into her squid form out of habit, and- Wait. Her squid form. She… Didn't have the right colour ink for her squid form? But there was no time to think about that now. She swam as fast as she could, hurrying through endless seas of green and dodging wall after wall, feeling their presence loom over her every move. Oh my god, oh my  _ god _ , she knew there was something fishy about these guys, of  _ course _ they wanted to kill her, no Inkling gets out of here alive! She hoped up, suddenly too tired of swimming, and saw three choices of weapon laid out before her; Splat dualies, a Splat Roller, and a Sniper. Her hands itched for the familiar weaponry of the dualies, which she chose, and she hurried to the nearest high point. She knew this weapon as well as she knew herself: She was going to have to use the special. A sudden wall of pink emerged, and she’d forgotten that it wasn’t her colour, until crippling pain shot through her legs, and she jumped back.. So far back, in fact, that she hit one of the Octotroopers square in the chest. She’d begun to carve out a path when she was hit in the back of the head, sending her forward with a  _ “Fuck!” _ The more she splatted, the higher she felt the energy building inside of her, and then it peaked. All she could see was glowing green as she lept high into the air, curled her hand into a fist, and slammed to the ground with a deafening  _ crack! _ The Octotroopers were sent flying backwards, perishing as they went, and her chest was heaving, yet she was grinning. Cheering sounded from above.

“Go Sammie!” Cassie hollered, beaming down at her ah the lights were turned back on.

_ “Were you trying to kill me?!”  _ She wheezed, hurrying towards them.

“No! We just wanted to see how well you can use your octoling side! And look at that! You did it! You turned into an Octo to swim through ink!” Fee cheered, bouncing on her toes.

“Now, get some rest. And tomorrow? We take you out onto the grounds,”


	2. Why The Fuck Don't You Have Any Cerial?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammie learns new things about the Octarians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to chapter 2 of this Mess
> 
> TW for blood and nausea again (sorry !)

The sunlight came streaming in, accompanied by the sweet sound of birdsong as Sammie stretched and got up and ready, making herself breakfast.

Yeah. Just kidding.

Instead, she was awoken by Fee shaking her shoulders excitedly, saying that today was the day, and the noise of clattering from outside. And yes, it was still dark. Unsurprisingly. Sammie got up, changed into the clothes that were provided by Dot the previous evening, and got ready for breakfast. Upon entering the kitchen and checking the cupboard, she saw no evidence of cereal boxes, nor any bowls or plates of any kind, “Uh, do you guys have any breakfast?”

“What?” Dot piped up, threading her belt through the loops.

Sammie raised an eyebrow,  _ “Breakfast? _ To  _ eat?” _

“Oh!” Cassie handed her a pair of goggles, “We don’t eat in the mornings or afternoons. Only evenings. Helps us keep strength for the battles,”

“I- Wh- You need strength to fight, and you get strength from  _ food _ , what?”

“Well,  _ we _ don’t, but, uh, we have… Some shellfish? Or… Carp pieces?” She mused, rifling through the cupboards. She pulled out a box that read  _ Cod Crunches _ , which had a mascot on the box which looked  _ straight _ out of a horror film, “My ma gave me these when she last came, so, will these do?”

“Anything will,” Sammie groaned, her stomach’s audible growl agreeing with her as Cassie handed her the box. She figured they had no milk, either, so she just ate them dry, “So, uh, what exactly are we doing today?”

“We have training today, so we’ll have to introduce you as Eight, since we all have codes in our quadrants, and we’ve only gone up to seven. Training is kind of like what we put you through last night-”

“Which was  _ terrifying _ ,”

“-Sorry!” Cassie smiled over at her, and it was as if the air seemed… Slightly thinner, “And then we try out new weapons the DJ has hopefully brought in for us,”

“I-I’m sorry,  _ who?” _

“The DJ? DJ Octavio?”

_ Fuck. _

“Let me guess,” She sighed, a smirk toying on her lips, “He’s a criminal up there, isn’t he?”

“He… He  _ is _ , but-” Suddenly, she was struck with realisation. DJ Octavio had the Zapfish. She could get the Zapfish and save Inkpoplis! She could save them after all! “He has the Zapfish! I can.. I can save Inkopolis with the Zapfish! I-”

_ “Woah, _ hey, watch it, soldier,”

“Wh-”

“The Zapfish is-” A loud horn startles everyone in the cabin, Dot leads them outside to wander to the ground. All the way there, Cassie said nothing to Sammie at all. The  _ complete _ silent treatment. I mean, Sammie didn’t try either, but that's not the point here. Callie is also gone, but does that mean she’s… No. She doesn’t want to think about that. But, what was Cassie going to say? Why did something like the Great Zapfish have  _ any _ importance down here? Hell, she doesn’t even know if she can trust these guys! If you almost killed someone, would you then proceed to give them a place to stay? And then, you’d probably make them warm up to you just so you could kill them privately without anyone noticing. Yep.  _ That’s _ what they’re planning to do, because you can never be too careful around Octolings.

“Here we are,  _ eight _ , your new training ground,” Cassie said, her tone laced with something Sammie can’t put her finger on.

“Cassie Heron! Who is  _ this?” _ A voice says, and Sammie has to squint to make out a silhouette of what could only be a higher Octoling, if the clothes are anything to go by. It’s shoulders are adorned with a thick, black cape, and one of it’s eyes are similar to Sammie’s. They looked… familiar.

“This is Agent Eight, from quadrant 1n30, we needed one more in our own quadrant, and she was injured, so we took her in,”

The figure stepped out into the light, it’s eye a sharp azure with a green pupil, “Well, Eight, it’s nice to meet you. May I take a name?”

“Sammie Cuttl- Uh, Sammie Cuzzo. Pleased to be at your service,” The others watched in amazement as she was able to handle this so quickly. But they didn’t know that she had been a victim to their raids, how they took her parents, how she had to adopt a fake identity.

“Cuzzo, huh?” He squints, “Feel like I’ve heard it… Anyway, welcome to quadrant Twelve,”

“Jeez, Sammie, you caught on quick,” Fee bumps her hip with Sammie’s own, making them both grin.

“Yeah, well-”

“Oh  _ please _ , it wasn’t  _ that _ hard. All she had to do was lie a little,  _ anyone _ can do that. Get over it, we’ve got work to do,” Cassie spat, shooting a criticizing glare over her shoulder. Sammie winced.

“Okay, Quadrant Twelve! We need to remain  _ sharp _ if we want to win back our turf!” A voice boomed over the crowd, sounding numerous cheers. She felt sick to her stomach. This was gonna be a long ride.

;-;

They’d begun fighting in duels, only one against another. Sammie had shot through the leaderboard, but unfortunately, so had Cassie. Turns out that years of Turf War  _ had _ taught her something, after all. But what Sammie was the most nervous for, was the fact that they both had to go head to head. Most of the crowd were cheering for Cassie, saying to  _ “Stomp on the newbie,” _ because apparently these guys had no empathy for anxiety. The only people who were quiet and reserved were Fee and Dot, who were looking at Sammie apologetically. When they were finally head to head, Cassie looked at Sammie with an expression she couldn’t read. This is where she died. She wasn’t able to re-gen after this, and then what? She’d be finished. The leader of the quadrant, who Sammie had found out was called Blair Belfora, presented them with the array of weapons of their choice. She’d done a quick scan of the specials: Splashdown, Inkjet, Ink Armour, etc, and chose the Octobrush. Because, it wasn’t just about getting kills. This also corresponded with the amount of ground you could cover. And, for the special attack. The Inkjet was what she was gonna have to handle, and she’d used it once. She scanned over the stats printed on the back of the brush’s handle;

_ Octobrush 17FE _

_ Category - MAIN _

_ Class - ROLLER _

_ Sub - AUTOBOMB _

_ Special - INKJET _

_ Base Damage - 40 (splash) 20 (roll) _

When she looked back up, she saw Cassie wielding a Carbon Roller, scanning the stats also, “Alright!” Blair’s voice came hurtling over the speakers, “Agent 2 and Agent 8, to your starting points! May the best Octo win,”

They hurried over to the starting kettles, adopting a fighting stance. To be truthful, Sammie was scared  _ shitless _ . Being head-to-head with someone who probably hated her guts, if the attitude she had earlier had anything to say., made her feel like she could keel over and hurl. But, she won’t. If this will get her closer to DJ Octavio, then she’ll do whatever is necessary. The weight of the brush was keeping her on the ground at this point, stopping her from floating away into the abyss, or something. The crowds yelling suddenly grew louder and louder, hammering into her head, making her wince. Everything was too hot but too cold, too heavy yet too light, and she didn’t know what to do. Why was she so scared when it came to Cassie? She was an  _ inkling _ , she could  _ do  _ this. She eyed the crowd nervously, and spotted the commander standing with another figure. He was glaring at her in curiosity, making her swallow thickly. Shit, did he know? Were other people this nervous?

Before she could think any longer, the bell rang, and they got to work. Flurries of memories began to invade Sammie’s vision, but she didn’t have the time. She needed to win. She could do this. Her focus was glued to the floor, watching as it’s colour slowly changed as more ground got covered. What she didn’t see, however, was the bombs being hurled from the other side of the map. Oh,  _ that’s _ how she wanted to play? Alright then. Since she gathered that must have been allowed, she’d swiped behind her back two autobombs, enaballing her aim on the googles (They were  _ very _ higher tech than the ones back in Inkopolis. If she ever gets out of here, maybe she should take some with her) and chucked them through the air, watching as they found a path through the sky. The perks of the weapon were it was wide, but the downside was how  _ slow _ it’s pace was. At least it’s flick shot pretty far, when she’d come face-to-face in good time. Speaking of, a group of bombs came hurtling towards her, making her jump in the air in surprise, to be hit by the roller. What a plan, Cassie.

Her world was upside down. Colours and sounds mixed together as she went hurtling to the ground. Worried about the back of her head, she grabbed onto the closest thing - which in this instance, was a  _ wall -  _ and let her arm absorb most of the impact. What happened instead, was her hand had slipped, and she did, in fact, end up on her  _ ass, _ but also her back, with Cassie looming over her. It triggered how she got down here, but this time with less blood and less fear. Scratch that last bit, maybe  _ more  _ fear. But Cassie’s expression had changed. She looked… Sad? She still looked angry, but it wasn’t the white-hot anger which coursed through her veins before. It was…  _ Sympathy. _

“I-” She stammered, the roller shaking in her grip,  _ “I can’t do it,” _

“What-” Sammie gasped, chest heaving.

“I can’t kill you again, I…” She whispered, “You can’t regenerate here,”

“One of us has to-”

“What’s going on?” The commander called with Blair next to him, who was sending them a sorrowful glance, “Get it  _ done!” _

Without warning, Sammie acted on impact, and grabbed her special from behind her. She activated it, feeling that same rush of power, and took off into the air, watching as Cassie hurried behind any obstacles she could find in a slight panic, but that intoxicating feeling of the  _ power  _ you have, how it makes you feel like you’re on top of the world... When she saw Cassie’s body disappear, and regenerate by the start, the crowd exploded in cheers and affirmations alike, all surprised that a  _ newbie _ was able to defeat the highly-ranked Agent 2. She came down from her high, feeling dizzy with hype, and let the crowd carry her, sending her flying upwards into the air once again, all cheering,  _ “Agent 8! Agent 8!”  _ as she laughed heartily. Fee and Dot hurried over to her, tackling her to the ground.

“Sammie! That was amazing!” Dot cheered, smiling down at her.

“No one’s defeated Cassie before! Not even  _ us!” _ As Fee said this, said girl came wandering over, and Sammie felt her stomach  _ sink. _

Her expression seemed distant, “Well done out there, Eight. Didn’t know you had it in you,”

“Cass-” But she was gone.

;-;

“Okay, we  _ need  _ to talk about earlier if this is how it’s going to be,”

Cassie looked up, wrapping her hand, “What?”

“What was that about before the fight?” She huffed, not wanting to start a fight, “I’m not one to get upset over small things, but what kind of use does the Zapfish have down-”

“You don’t know the  _ half  _ of it!” Cassie hollered, standing up to meet her height, “We lost our land because- Because of  _ you! _ You just  _ had  _ to take it from us, because you’re  _ greedy. _ You’re all a bunch of greedy snobs who think they're the  _ only thing  _ that's right in all of this world. Well, sorry to break it to you,  _ Agent 4,  _ but you’re  _ not.  _ Because  _ we  _ own that land, it was  _ us  _ who ruled first, and you need to get that through your thick skull,”

Sammie was almost speechless, “N-Now, hold on, wait-”

“Oh,  _ sorry,  _ did I scare you? Not everyone is as  _ nice  _ as they seem, so I’m doing you a favour. Cap’n Cuttlefish and Marie are  _ liars.  _ They cheap, dirty liars, who don’t know what  _ shit  _ they’re spillin’ out of those lips of theirs,” She took a step forward, towering over Sammie, “So  _ don’t  _ think you’re a hero because of this,  _ Sammie,  _ because you’re  _ not,” _

Something broke within her, “We took the land from you because you were polluting it! We  _ saved  _ it from your deathly grasp, and made it  _ live.  _ We made it. It was  _ us, _ and to even  _ think  _ it was you for one second,” She chuckled humorlessly, “Don’t even try it. We all know the truth of DJ Octavio, what he did in the war. Our people  _ died  _ to keep that land-”

“Don’t act like ours  _ didn’t-” _

“And we’re the reason that it’s still _standing!”_ She yelled, glaring at Cassie, _"God,_ to think I even trusted you,”

“Sammie-”

“I’m finding a way out of here. Hope you have fun,  _ Agent 2,” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed !!


	3. Well, Uh, Didn't Know Octopi Had Feelings, So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammie is found by someone she'd never expect, and is also lent a helping hand. The Octolings, on the other hand, have some talking to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE SWITCH HAS BEEN PRE ORDERED SO I JUST NEED TO PREPARE MYSELF FOR THE G A M E HI !!!!
> 
> this took me a couple of days because i lost motivation but here you go !! <3

Update on finding a way out:

She ended up in a dingy, off-the-road waffle joint with  _ multiple _ Octolings asking to take her home. If only they could. She’d waved them off with a polite,  _ “Ah, no thanks, I have a ride,” _ But they just  _ wouldn’t budge. _ At this point, she was completely ready to grab the nearest bottle of drink, smash it against the counter, and riot the  _ fuck  _ out of this place. But, she took a deep breath, and carried on thinking for a way to get home.  _ Home  _ home, not wherever Cassie was. That wasn’t home. It never would be. Hell, she’s lucky that she’s still  _ alive. _ She’d ordered the  _ “Sourberry Sorbet”  _ waffle (Which, you have to admit, sounds  _ amazing _ ) and was half-way through consumption when a figure sat down next to her, hood up.

“I know what you’re doing,”

She froze, the sorbet dropping off her spoon like her stomach inside her. Pure cold dread seeped down her spine as she tried to lie it off, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,”

“It’s okay, Eight, or should I say,  _ Four,” _ And they pulled their hood down to reveal the figure who was standing with the general in the tournament earlier on, smiling sweetly, “I know how to help you,”

“Wait, really?” She smiled, stuffing the rest of the waffle in her mouth, chewing hastily to then follow him out of the door, “So, how do you know who I am?”

He pulled his bandage away from his eye, “I’m like you,” He whispered, and Sammie’s stomach dropped as she saw his eye, which was  _ exactly like hers, _ “And I have no idea what they did to your eye, but we’ll find out when we get there,”

“Uh, get where?”

“My place, dummy,” Said place was a shade of pink (What was  _ up  _ with the rivalry of pink versus green here?) and was rather spacy, photos of The Squid Sisters with two other people were hung off the walls, and plates were neatly stacked atop one another on a sturdy-looking shelf. A sofa was next to the wall, multiple cushions of an array of colours and sizes chucked haphazardly on it’s seat, and an armchair was next to that. Papers and pens littered each and every table, with what looked like chicken scratch engraved on each page, pictures of Octoling and Inkling x-rays alike dotted on each slip. The carpet was a light, dusty pink, spotless. A bed was in another room, neatly made, with another next to it, and a small yet sweet bathroom, “Sorry it might look like a retirement home, I haven’t had much chance to decorate,”

Sammie smiled, “No! It’s, uh, sweet, thank you for letting me stay. But how did you get down here?”

He turned around, shocked, “Are you kidding?”

“What?”

“They don’t mention me? At  _ all?” _

Okay, this kid was off the rails, “I-I’m sorry, no,”

_ “Jesus,” _ He smacked his hand against his face, grumbling into it, “I’m Agent 3? Of the-”

“The Squidbeak Splatoon?! Agent three, oh my Carp, someone who- Wow!” She seemed in absolute awe, diving in to hug him, “Thank you, thank you,  _ thank you!” _

“Okay, wow, uh, no problem, kid,” He patted her back half-heartedly.

She was quick to pull away, pouting, “I’m the same age as you, dumbass,”

“Alright, how about we ease up on the names,” He smiled sheepishly, to then turn around and pick up a sheet of paper, “This is how we’re gonna get out, okay?”

“No!”

His face was bewildered as he turned around, “Excuse me?”

“I- Wait, Callie is  _ missing, _ we can’t let these guys keep her. I was sent to do a  _ job,” _

“They’ve got  _ Callie?” _ He winced,  _ “Shit,” _

“Yeah. Now, would you see what the  _ fuck _ happened to my eye?”

His hands were kind and gentle as he unraveled the bandage wrapped around her head, digging through his bag to receive a new roll, since the old one was stained with blue. She had kept her eyes shut until his voice spoke up, shaky and unsure, telling her to open. She gasped in shock. One eye seemed  _ sanitized, _ it’s Sclera was a sharp emerald, and the pupil was blue. Small tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes but why the  _ fuck _ was she crying over this? It was nothing, it just proved she’d been down there. It was a battle scar. She could win this, “I-I’m… Sorry-” He spoke, matching her expression, “It, uh, it hurts, doesn’t it?”

“A b-bit, I…” Her mouth way dry, “I don’t know why I’m crying, I should be worried about my wound-”

“Your head is fine, but I’m going to need to patch you up again, okay?”

“Sure,” She huffed, “Sure, yeah,”

It was then when she decided: She needed to get out of here.

;-;

“The  _ fuck  _ do you mean she dissapeared?”

“What does it matter? She made it blatant enough that being around us was  _ horrible,” _

“Cass, she can’t fucking regenerate down here! And-”

“Oh for fuck’s sake Fee! Who cares?” She snapped, standing to meet their gaze.

_ “I  _ do! She’s come from fucking Inkopolis, from the people we’re in  _ war with,  _ does that not give you  _ any  _ warning signs whatsoever?!” Fee was now level with Cassie, shouting right in her face.

“The fuck are you talking ab-”

“She could get this land  _ destroyed!  _ She could let our secret out, and then she could have us never be able to see the goddamn surface again! Is that what you want?!”

“All the more reason for her to be killed and never re-generate. Then, our land will stay intact, and no progress lost. Happy?”

“I’m n-”

“Are you that thick?!” Dot yelled, speaking up for the first time in ages, shocking them both, “Do you need us to fucking  _ spell it out?  _ If she fucking dies down here, they’ll only want us more! Ever since that Agent 3 came down because we fucking missed a kill out of pity,” She strode forward, “Because we’re not like the books make us out to be. We’re not killing machines, we’re not insensitive, and, for fuck’s sake, we’re  _ not  _ fucking power-hungry, absolutely phychotic _ narcisists!” _

Her words rebounded off the walls as they both stood, dumfounded, “And I’m tired of people thinking we are,” Her voice shook as she hurriedly wiped her eyes.

“Dot-”

“So I’m going to find her. You can come if you want, Cassie, but I  _ really  _ doubt you’ll want to,”

“I- Guys, wait-”

“Fee? Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Her voice was flat, “Be right there,” As they turned to leave, equipped and ready, Cassie stopped them, laying a protective hand on Dot’s shoulder, and he had the  _ nerve  _ to have a trace of sympathy lace her features.

“Be careful, I mean, you don’t even know where she is, and I don’t want you to get hurt,”

Dot shrugged her hand off, “Like  _ you _ care,”

;-;

“I kept my old headset, and a spare that Cap’n gave me, so we can keep in touch with each other through that. We just need to scan the land for the Zapfish,” He pulled his mask over his mouth, “Got it?”

Under her gas mask, she was smiling, “Got it. We’re getting out of here,”

“Hell fuckin’ yeah we are,  _ Agent 4,” _

She tapped the watch once they had parted, checking the digits of  _ 21;34. _ Not too late. The streets seemed desolate and uneasy, splattered in green ink and abundant food joints. What on  _ earth  _ was she doing, coming down here and thinking that she’d stay. How dumb she was to trust Cassie and the others by believing they were going to help her get out of this mess. Hell, they’d probably get her up there, to then start another war. Which she’d end up responsible for, and she did  _ not  _ want that shit on her conscience. Passing figure by figure, looking for  _ any  _ sign of the Zapfish, she spotted something. It was an abandoned  _ Octo Shot Replica,  _ if her sub-par knowledge was any help whatsoever. Still, she picked it up, tested its splatting range - Still in good condition - and equipped it along her way. Suddenly, she felt a strange hand lay on her shoulder.

She whipped around, grabbed the person’s arm and used it to chuck them to the ground, kneeling on their back whilst pulling the arm towards her own body, and put the gun to their head.

The stranger in question was no other than Agent 3, “Ow, ow  _ ow-  _ Okay, okay let me go! I’m sorry, I’m sorry-  _ FUCK!” _

“Hoooly shit Agent Three I’m fucking sorry,” She let him go, “Why are you here?”

“I-  _ fucking hell _ \- I was passing through here, I didn’t know you were too. That grip is  _ strong,  _ four, how did you-”

“Nevermind. I’ll just- uh, go the other way. Remember to stay in touch,”

Recovering from the embarrassment, she grew alarmed at a panicked scream. Hurrying to see what the commotion was, she tied back her hair, ready for action. She could do this. If she fought off Cassie, she could fight off whatever the hell this was. When she arrived at the scene, two girls were hurriedly dodging shots a machine was giving out, and oh my  _ God,  _ this thing was  _ covered  _ in light green ink, the same as before she was captured. She super jumped over to the scene, regaining form almost immediately, and got to work at joining them in shooting the form. When they had succeeded together, she turned to see who it was, and-

How the  _ fuck  _ did Fee and Dot find her  _ here, _ of  _ all  _ places.

“Thanks for saving us,” Fee sighed with relief, smiling sweetly at her.

“‘S no problem,” She really hoped the mask disguised her voice, “I’ve been trained by the force, so,”

“Oh  _ shit, _ sounds hard,” Dot gasped, fishing something out of her bag, and handing her a refill tank, “With a gun like that, you’ll need this. I brought one spare because our  _ friend  _ was meant to come with us, but bailed,”

She assumed that was Cassie, “Thanks. Anyway, I need to go so-”

“Wait,” Fee narrowed her eyes, stepping closer to her, “Are you…”

“Sammie? Is- Is that you?”


	4. Well, I Didn't Know You Could Yell Like That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammie has a hard decision to make, and some horrible memories to repress. Meanwhile, a certain someone has a hold of a certain something special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi omg they're in it they're here wow  
> say hi to callie and marie folks, here we go  
> tw // mentions of war, mentions of bereavement, dead family members, kidnapping, torture ??  
> yikes

_ “Agent Four, Come In, Agent Four,” _

No. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

_ “Agent Four, please! I can’t do this alone,  _ **_wake up!”_ **

She was meant to save Inkopolis, she was meant to- she couldn’t-

“We’ve lost her, Gramps, do something!” Marie hollered, watching as they hurried to get any response.

_ “Ag-t F-ur, We ne- To s-v- Ink-pl-s!” _

“You can do this, Four, I promise! All you need to do is  _ get up!” _ Her voice had grown panicked and hoarse as she pleaded into the receiver, only to be met with crunching static. 

_ She was meant to find Callie. And now she couldn’t. _

“What do we do,” She asked Cap’n as he sat there, calculating routes in his head.

“We’ve lost them, we can’t- _ Callie-” _

“Here’s what I need you to do,” He started, “Remember the other kid from the plaza?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Go grab him. I have an idea,”

;-;

All was silent. The Octolings looked astonished as Sammie stood in front of them.

“I- Why did you leave?”

“Why do you  _ think?”  _ She spat, brushing herself off, “It was pretty fucking clear that I was weighing you down, as Cassie made it out to be. You don’t need me, you’ve taken one of my city's idols, so I hope you have everything you want,” She began to walk off, but was stopped.

“I’m  _ not  _ fucking doing this again, you  _ swine,” _ Dot growled, pulling her to face her.

“Don’t you fucking  _ dare  _ make us out as the bad people here, alright? ‘Cause we’re  _ not.  _ Just ‘cause we have a bit of a run-down place and our living standards are more  _ shoddy  _ doesn’t mean that we’re fucking  _ animals.  _ Don’t talk down to us, either. You think you’re higher up than us, and that you’re  _ so  _ much better. Well you’re not the good guys in this story. So stop  _ fucking  _ acting like it, get your  _ heads  _ out of your  _ asses,  _ and  _ help others out for once!” _

“We need you, Sammie,” Fee’s voice was gentle and calming, “Otherwise we’ll never get out of here alive. This is  _ horrible, _ you know that? I’ve never seen daylight in my  _ life,  _ Sam.  _ Ever.  _ I need you to help us,” She held her hand lightly, “Can you do that for me?”

“I-I…”

Her mind flew back to the night of the invasion. The war had been and gone, and she was sat with her and her parents in a bunker, waiting for them to pass. Horrifying crunching sounds only proved to be worse as she could feel the ground folding beneath her. Suddenly, the bunker’s lid flew open, light flooding the small space, and she looked up to see a pair of blue eyes glaring at the three of them. In a flash, her arms were being tugged upwards, panicked cries drowning her ears as she tried to  _ run.  _ But, her parents were gone, and she was alone, all alone… 

_ “Agent Four!” _

Three’s voice made her jump out of her skin, suddenly pressing a button on the headset, “Y-Yes, Three?”

_ “You need to get your ass over here,” _

“Who are you talking to?” Fee queried, cocking her head.

Sammie shook her head, “It’s no one, don’t worry,”

“So,” Dot said, “Are you in? Do you want to help us?”

“I-” There were too many voices. It was too loud, “I can’t, I have a lot on- uh, on my plate, I’m,”

_ “Who are you talking to?” _

“Are…” Fee sighed, “Dot, we need to give her some space, step back a bit,”

“Sammie,” She pleaded,  _ “Please,” _

“O-Okay,” She shakily nodded, “Agent Three, we have two new recruits,”

;-;

It was dark. Jesus, where  _ was  _ she? All she remembered was going to see Marie and her family, then…

_ “All right doll, let's get started, huh?” _

A white light was on her, and she had to squint to overcome it. She tried to speak, but she was frozen, nothing could move her. Oh  _ God,  _ oh  _ no,  _ what could she do? Marie was probably worried  _ sick  _ about her, and- and-

_ “This will hurt, just a heads up,” _

And suddenly, her head split in half. Pain tore through her skull, mapping every inch of her body, stimulating nothing but pure, white-hot  _ agony.  _ She cried out, hitting the floor as her eyes went dark, but the pain never stopped. Was she even unconscious at this point? She couldn’t tell. Her body was prickly and sensitive, from her head to her toes, and she felt herself shaking heavily as she tried to pry whatever was on her face off. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears, and she couldn’t breathe. Who… Who was she worrying about earlier? She couldn’t remember. A distant melody echoed from down a tunnel, but it wasn’t familiar. Just noise. Plain, dull noise, sparking nothing within her, as she found the strength to stand back up again.

_ “Ready for a party, darling?” _ The stranger stepped out into the light, his eight limbs in a threatening stance. Of course. Her  _ leader. _

“Yes, sir,” She responded, tone clipped and sharp. She was given a change of clothes, and went immediately to do so. When she got back, she could see a magnificent being on the wall, it’s body curling hypnotizingly with every move. It seemed to give off a strange aura, of  _ power,  _ of  _ meaning.  _ She felt so much more powerful with these on, seeing everything she couldn’t before.

_ “That there,” _ The stranger said, pointing to the being,  _ “Is what we fought for. It is called The Great Zapfish, and we are here to protect it,  _ guard  _ it, with our  _ lives _ ,”  _ He turned to her.

_ “Can you do that for me, Callie?” _

“Yes, sir,” She said again, straightening up.

_ “Oh please..” _ He grinned, sickly, “Call me  _ DJ Octavio,” _

;-;

“So…” Marie looked herself over, grimacing at the tacky yellow coat, “I’m doing what now?”

“You are an Agent of the Octo Research Lab, which is involving them bringing The Octarians back into the light again,” The Cap’n sighed, “So that will lure them to you, and to trust you. And-”

“Callie,” She said, tone quiet, “What about Callie?”

“We will find her, I promise you. She can’t have gone very far, could she?”

“Cap’n, I… She could be  _ dead, _ we  _ need  _ to find her as soon as possible. That’s why I had to recruit Agent Four, who we  _ lost, _ are you- Are you even sure I’m going to come back alive, Gramps?”

He was taken back to when she was little, Marie was always protecting her cousin.

“You can do this,” He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “I believe in you,”

“Now, find the agent and save us all,  _ Marie Hotaru,” _

;-;

“You  _ what?!” _

They were at the gallery of Kettles, yet they all lay dormant whilst Sammie was stood with Fee and Dot cowering slightly behind her back as Agent Three shrieked in fear, “Agent Three, calm down, I can explain-”

“Why on God's green  _ earth  _ did you bring two Octolings to the fight?! Hello? Are you  _ brainwashed?!” _

She put a stop to his panicked rambling, “These guys want to  _ help us _ . They want to get to the surface as much as we do,”

“We’re not murderers, we say this enough. Sa- Uh,  _ Agent Four _ has filled us in, and we helped her live here!”

“You pretty much  _ took her eye out! _ And we’re not  _ living here,  _ we’re on our way  _ out,” _

“Three!” Sammie quipped, stepping in front of him, “Listen to me! We  _ have  _ to explain how they’re not the bad guys here, and we took what  _ wasn’t  _ ours. The Zapfish…” She turned around to meet their eyes, “The Zapfish is ours  _ and  _ theirs, so if we bring them up, we can help them, they can help us, it’s a win-win,”

“Wh- What will Cap-”

“He’ll be  _ fine. _ Plus, I’m barely sure he even runs it anymore. It’s just Marie now,” She tried to smile reassuringly, but to no avail, Three didn’t look too sure. In fact, he looked  _ scared. _

“Uh, Three? You okay?”

She turned around, and saw the lid to the kettle opening. Light erupted from inside, songs and cheering alike, which rang a distant tune of  _ Calamari Inkantation. _ Why…

“Four…” He whispered, “I think we found The Zapfish,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bOOM HOWS THAT FOR A CLIFFHANGER WHAT  
> .....it's probably not even a cliffhanger because i have Nothing Better To Do so i might as well write more-


	5. Oh Shit Oh Shit Oh Fuck-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Shit Goes Down, my friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what'd i tell you,,,,,  
> wasn't even a cliffhanger

The kettle whistled as it took them in, falling deeper and deeper underground. The spinning suddenly started, and they spun faster, and faster…

“I’m gonna be sick,” Sammie groaned, almost being thrown across the floor.

“Might join you on that one-”

The kettle came to an abrupt stop, and they all pushed their heads out to see where in hell they were. Both Agent’s eyes widened as they turned to the stage, observing the purple ink splayed on the ground, the massive robot, who had it’s hands on Callie.  _ Callie.  _ Fuck!

“Callie!” Agent Three cried, hopping up and starting to make a run for the robot, before being stopped by Agent Four.

“Hey!” Sammie called afterwards, motioning for the two girls to follow her, “Agent Three, you can’t just-”

They were stunned silent as a deafening  _ crack!  _ Sounded behind them, making them turn around. A figure emerged through green ink, and as their form came more into focus, everyone except Agent Three bristled. Cassie stood amongst the Kettle, wielding a pair of dualies, and full gear on. Grinning determinedly, she super jumped over to the four of them, immediately hurrying into apologies.

“Shit, Sammie, I’m awful sorry. I didn’t know what was coming out of my mouth, and I made you guys out to be the villains here. No one is, I-” She sighed, holding her hands, “I hope you can forgive me, we’re gonna need all the help we can get to help both of you,”

“Cassie,” She smiled, hugging the girl. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her back, making a chorus of  _ awww _ ’s grow from the crowd. She quickly pulled away to apologize to Fee and Dot whilst Agent Three helped concoct a plan with Agent Four.

“Alright guys, listen up!”

“Okay, we’re gonna need you to step up there first, since you probably look like more believable Octolings than us, and can speak the language, not that he’ll ask, but just in case. Simply  _ follow his orders,” _ He spoke with determination, “We don’t know what he’s planning, but just don’t let him put the shades on you, okay? Or any ink, for that matter. You’ll have to change to purple when we arrive, but make a switch attack. Got it?”

“Got it,” They agreed. Weapons had been lying dormant by the edge of the kettle when they arrived, so Fee was armed with an Octo Roller whilst Dot had an E-Liter, and Cassie had brought her own. She smiled reassuringly at Sammie before hurrying off to DJ Octavio’s lair.

“Right,” He started, making sure to give Sammie a better weapon, “You have the Hero Shot there, okay? It doesn’t have any bombs right now, Sheldon must’ve nicked ‘em or something,”

She laughed at that, “That  _ really  _ doesn’t sound like Sheldon,”

He smiled, chuckling as well, “You ready, Four?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be, Three,”

“Oh please, call me Jayden,”

“Well, if we’re gonna be all buddy-buddy about it,  _ Jayden,  _ you can call me Sammie,”

They turned their focus back to the stage, watching the three of them as their tentacles turned to purple, and they took that as their cue. Both of them knowingly nodded at each other, and launched over to the stage. When they arrived, the three Octolings winked at them, before regaining proper stance.

_ “I told you to leave…” _

They both gulped, arming themselves.

_ “Now you leave me no choice… Prepare yourselves! DJ!” _

Rumbling shook through the ground as the robot began to lift. Cheers erupted from the crowd as huge screens behind them burst to life, showing Callie in all her hypnotized glory. The ink beneath their feet quivered as an all-too-familiar face emerged from deep within it, glaring Jayden down. The Zapfish was shaking under the machine as it hovered to life, straining, until being sucked into the robot, both the agents watching in horror as it provided said thing with light and weaponry alike, making them shiver.

“I remixed Callie’s brain, and I finally have what is rightfully  _ mine.  _ Try and stop me if you want, but you’ll only end up killed,”

“Shit, Jayden, we can’t re-gen,”

“The Kettle,” He whispered, “That’s a checkpoint! Remember?”

“Time for the main event!” Callie shouted, and then bombs began to flurry past them as they expertly dodged. The three Octarians came barreling towards them, and as they swung, their hair had a swift ombre from purple to green, and they joined the Agents in shooting down any attacks Callie and Octavio were hurling toward them.

“Wh-”

“Sammie!” Jayden called out, hurrying to what he thought was the Zapfish, but as the Octarians called out just in time, it exploded into his face. He was quick to dodge, but still slightly wounded. He brushed them off, warranting it as nothing, and they continued. DJ Octavio's punches were getting weaker, until he was forced out of the machine, and under Sammie’s will. She shot as much as she could, before he seemed to snap out of it, and hurry back into the safety of the large machine. Cassie and Sammie seemed to be back-to-back, shooting and aiming as hard as they could, chests heaving in synchronization as they felt more and more worn out.

“This is familiar,” Cassie huffed, “Fighting with you,”

“Well, at least,” Sammie sighed, “At least I can tell you -  _ jesus _ \- tell you how good I think your aiming is now,”

They both dove simultaneously as a spinning punch came their way, but were quick to attack it. In the middle of the commotion, a soft but sure whirring sound could be heard from behind them.

“Look!” Jayden cried, “It’s Marie!”

“Marie! It’s us! Agents Three and Four!” Sammie yelped, desperate to get her attention.

“Drop me here,” Marie whispered to Sheldon, flying down to the ground.

“Sammie? Jayden? We thought you _ died!” _ She laughed, engulfing them in a hug.

“Three, you’re… The  _ two of you,  _ what… What did they do,” Her voice grew more stone-cold and icy as she turned to face the Octolings, “Watch it!” She cried, diving in the way to protect them, and aimed stealthily at the three of them.

“No! No, hey, let’s maybe, uh,  _ not  _ do that, huh?” Sammie chuckled, lowering the charger from Cassie’s face, “Marie, they  _ helped  _ us, and we can help  _ them. _ The Zapfish is ours  _ and  _ theirs, they need it as much as us-”

“Are we done here?” The DJ spoke, growing irritated, “Because I have land I want to take back, alright?”

“Give me back Callie!” Her grip shook on the charger, “Sheldon, get me back up,”

“What-”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” She winked, shooting off into the air. She was quick to aim the charger at Callie, and before anyone could question her, the shades were blown off as quick as a flash.

“No! What have you done?!” He cried, watching as his precious shades came clattering to the ground. Callie seemed to stir, swaying and rubbing her temple.

“I got her! Sheldon, I need to get closer!”

“No! Marie, you need to be careful!” Sammie cried, trying to reach her over the noise. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Jayden had begun to grow tired. His arms were quivering and he couldn’t stay upright, making Sammie panic.

“Jayden?” She hurried over to him, helping him stand, “Are you okay?”

“I-I’ll be fine,” He smiled, “I just-” He seemed to still, a rather violent shiver making him jerk in Sammie’s arms, and then he fell limp. Her heart stopped, watching as his body simply slumped over.

“J-Jayden?!”

“Sammie! Watch out!” She turned to see a fist come hurtling towards her, and ducked, shooting at it the best she could with one hand. Her vision had grown blurry with tears, and she bit her lip in order not to cry. But, she was snapped out of it as she felt him move, and suddenly his fist collided with her jaw, sending her stumbling backwards. Cassie helped her get back up, checking her for harm as Sammie simply watched as he emerged from the ink, his right eye submerged in green, as the substance slackened down his face, running like tears.

“W-What is…”

“Sammie!” Marie called from higher, with Callie next to her, “Me and the Octolings will take care of DJ Octavio! You can help-” And before she could finish, where both the agents were standing suddenly broke from the rest of the stage. Cassie jumped back, attempting to bring Sammie with her, who was trying to grasp Jayden, but he shot at the octoling, making her fall back, loosening her grasp on Sammie’s arm. It lowered at a high speed, sending both Jayden and herself hurrying down to the ground. She could hear distressed cries from above as they fell further and further, and watched as their faces grew smaller in size. Luckily, her weapon had come down with her as she fell, so she attempted to super jump back up to them. But, her attempts were quickly shut down as Jayden pushed her to the ground, and  _ Jesus, is she going to keep getting pinned here or what?! _

She struggled against his grip, locking her teeth together as she put more and more strength into pushing him. He seemed to have doubled in muscle, as he was easily able to keep her down. They kept falling as they pushed against each other, waiting for the inevitable death to come onto them.

“Wh-What are you-” She grunted, “D-Doing- Three, p-please, we need to-” He pushed her down further somehow, making her yelp. Her head was firmly planted against the ground now, pushing into the cold concrete. All she could focus on, however, were his eyes. Both had turned green now, glaring at her with such  _ anger,  _ it made her feel nauseous. He wasn’t speaking, only gritting his teeth and pushing with force. She was going to die. They were too far away from the kettle. As she looked to her left, she watched the city rush past them, watched as it’s flurry of lights began to blend together, and she began to feel a resistance building. It’s a familiar high, but not quite like the special attack. In fact, it was  _ so much more. _ It sent a dizzying rush to her head as she squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly feeling very hot. Her skin began to crawl as she was able to  _ push him, oh my God, she was pushing him! _ He was underneath her now, looking surprised as she pinned him down, and slowly brought up her gun from behind her. Her tentacles were alight, and she couldn’t control any of what she was doing, matching his power. He kicked her into the air, able to get up. She couldn’t tell what was going on, hearing the familiar  _ ping! _ of a special attack, and was barely able to move out of the way as a splashdown rained upon her. Her eyes were still aglow, as were his, as they fought it out. She shot at him as he dodged out of the way of nearly every shot, and then she managed to trap him again, under her knees. And with one harrowing shot, the green ink was gone, and he was back to normal, both eyes white this time. The feeling wore off, leaving her weak as the ground approached closer and- How high even  _ was  _ this thing?

_ “Sammie!” _ A familiar voice called, and she looked through bleary eyes to see each Octoling and  _ both the fucking Squid Sisters _ on the truck Marie arrived on, all leaning out to help.

“Go! Super Jump down, grab them both, and get back up!” Marie hollered, sending Cassie and Fee down to retrieve them.

“Cass-”

“I’ve got you, hon, you’re okay. You’re gonna be okay,” Her tone was warm and reassuring as she gently hoisted Sammie into her arms, smiling down at her.

“Got him!” Fee yelled, following Cassie up as Sammie held on for dear life to her Octoling form. When they got back up to the vehicle, Cassie carefully laid Sammie and Jayden down, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“I-Is… ‘S he gon’ b’ okay?” Her words were _impossibly_ slurred as she looked over to where Jayden lay, with Marie laying a hand on his forehead, “I… I didn’t mean t’ kill ‘im, I jus-”

“You didn’t,” Marie smiled over to her, “He’s perfectly fine. Just out cold,”

Sammie sighed, leaning back into Cassie’s arms. They heard a massive crash, assuming that was the piece of land they were on., “We got the DJ,” Marie chuckled.

“Yeah! And you came all this way to help me, Sammie, I’m…” Callie smiled, sending her a sympathetic glance, “I’m thankful, I really am,”

She smiled, “‘S nothin’, ‘S m’ job,”

“Okay! Homeward bound!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> INNER AGENT THREE BITCHES WOO

**Author's Note:**

> i hope that wasn't too weird !!


End file.
